ATHLETICS

Southland Times, Issue 20526, 30 June 1928, Page 9

ATHLETICS

PLAY AT NIGHT. A MODERN PROBLEM. GAMES BY ELECTRIC LIGHT. CONDITIONS IN SOUTHLAND. The light of recreation grounds was discussed at the conference of the Electric Supply Authority Engineers’ Association recently, the subject being introduced by Mr. L. B. Hutton (Southland), states the Evening Post. Remarking that the subject could be conveniently divided into two parts, summer and winter lighting, Mr. Hutton said that owing to the operation of summer time no summer lighting had been needed in Southland, where normal midsummer twilight lasted until after 9 p.m. It had been the Southland Board’s policy to provide recreational lighting at bare cost. “It is recognized,” continued Mr. Hutton, “that generally speaking those who patronise the recreation grounds are either consumers or ratepayers, and in the same way as they leave their work and worries to enjoy their games, the board tries to ensure that there shall be no financial worry over the cost of electricity. We have found this policy an excellent one, tending to create a good feeling amongst the board’s consumers in any district where it has been tried. ‘*The construction work is done as cheaply as possible, the local residents being invited to assist, and in several instances our construction parties, in conjunction with local residents, have put through a whole job on a Sunday, at no labour cost either to the board or to the sports association, the men giving their time free. An action of this sort will establish a board firmly in favour.” Dealing with the light required for bowling, Mr. Hutton said that the player's attention is focussed on the ground the whole rime, and this is the outstanding part to be remembered in lighting the green. The question of overhead glare enters very little into the matter, because the gaze is directed downwards. The object of the play is always towards the ends of the rinks, and the intermediate, or centre space, is relatively unimportant. The problem, therefore, becomes one of affording an intense light over the ends of the rinks. The light intensity required depends to some extent on the nature of the green—some rinks are undoubtedly green, while others have more of a yellow, or bistre, appearance. Generally speaking, the greener the j rink the higher should the light intensity I>er square foot of surface be. The selection of a lamp is not unimportant. The colour of daylight varies from a yellow-orange-red in early morning and late afterrfoon and evening to a yellow-white at noon or high sun. When diffused as through clouds it may be either bluish-white or pure white. The electric lamp must be selected to approximate to an average of these, and the gas filled bulb, rather than the vacuum, is most suitable. Daylight saying effectively put an end to any prospect that the Southland Board had of electrically lighting a tennis court. “The lighting of a bowling green and a tennis court present two entirely different problems,” Mr. Hutton pointed out, “and if this difference is appreciated, half the job is done. On the bowling green, we seek to illuminate a relatively small area, in the centre of which rests the jack. The jack I does not move, and the player’s object is ito bring his bowl to rest near it. Directly j the bowl has left his hand no amount of • light can resist it. On the tennis court, on ! the other hand, the play is competitive, the . figures move with speed, and the pace of the ball is at times extremely great. With ' anything but a new ball (old balls get neui tral in colour) it is often difficult, even on i the brightest da/, to gauge accurately its | pace and position. This is partly a matter • of eyesight but very largely a matter of light. “It follows, then, that whereas a relative- ■ ly low intensity of illumination will suffice ■ for a bowling green, the tennis court demands a very high intensity; and it can be estimated that anything less than 12-foot candles would spoil the game.”. Football grounds in Southland, it was stated, were lit purely for practice purposes, no ground being so adequately lit as to allow a game to be played at night. Floodlighting had been found to be the most satisfactory form of lighting for this purpose. It was pointed out that footballers were young men usually without much money, so the football clubs had not much to spend on extensive artifical lighting. In the case of bowlers it was rather different; they were older men with more money .to spend and could therefore afford adequately lit grounds for their game at night.